* * *
The distance from my room to the living room was quite far.
‘Seems like I fall on my butt about four or five times.’
Maybe it’s because the house is big or because my steps are small.
‘Well, in a few months, it’ll be fine.’
I walked diligently. Auntie An watched me walk down the hallway with a pleased look.
“Oh, is it today? The program with the kid!”
Yes. Today.
‘I’ve been eagerly waiting.’
Finally, I’ll be on national television.
‘It took longer to air than expected.’
Who knew it would take three months?
‘I’ve had nothing to do during that time….’
I sighed.
I hooked my leg onto the sofa.
With a bit of strength, I could now climb up skillfully.
That was the result of my hard work during the three months after the show ended.
‘The only thing I’ve done is one variety show!’
Frustration welled up. I rested my cheek on my hand and sighed again.
“Oh my, kid. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing is progrssing!”
Auntie An remained silent.
“Well, I see.”
‘Things aren’t moving fast. I want to be a celebrity quickly!’
I mean, I will be a celebrity.
Mom will help too.
It’s like taking a high-speed train!
Moving so slowly.
‘This is driving me crazy.’
Why isn’t anyone reaching out?
I pouted, and Auntie An smiled awkwardly.
“What do you mean? Kid. How did you learn such a difficult word like ‘progress’?”
Ah, is ‘progress’ a difficult word for a baby?
‘In times like this, there’s a perfect excuse.’
I crawled on the sofa and said.
“I read it in a book!”
It must be in a book.
“Well, yes. Our kid likes books. Oh! It’s starting!”
“Auntie! I can’t see it! There’s only something else on!”
“Oh my, you’re right. These days, commercials are too much!”
“That’s right. It’s slow.”
I looked at the TV with dissatisfaction.
‘But having a commercial attached is a good thing.’
Is this parent-child reality show getting some attention?
‘Well, they did a good job with the casting.’
Including me, and HALO as well.
I thought about those chaotic idols.
‘They were kind.’
I wanted to keep meeting them. It was a shame it was a one-off.
‘The production team would know that too.’
When we parted, the PD and writers were ecstatic, saying they got good footage.
As long as the editing doesn’t ruin it, this parent-child reality show is sure to be a success.
‘Then they should come back one more time!’
Why are they leaving me alone!
‘Hey, Mr. PD, Ms. Writer. Don’t you find me appealing?’
“Sigh!”
A sigh came out again.
“Hey, Kongja! Why do you keep sighing!”
“Because I’m frustrated!”
Auntie An Auntie looked at me closely. Ah, is she worried?
“I’m fine. It’ll pass.”
Auntie An Auntie turned her head with effort and muttered.
“Is it not good to make a child read a lot of books?”
Oh no. At that moment, “Baby and I” finally started. The first scene showed HALO entering the office.
“Dimly!”
“Shining!”
“For you!”
They bowed their heads simultaneously.
“Hello, we are HALO!”
There they go with that greeting again. The subtitles moved.
-Are you confident about the parent-child reality show?
The member shook his head.
“No, honestly, I’m worried. It’s my first time with parent-child.”
-What did you prepare?
“I learned how to make baby food from my mom over the phone. I can’t let the baby go hungry, after all.”
So that’s what he prepared.
“Even though the process was confusing, it was edible.”
These guys are really kind.
-What are you most worried about?
“I’m worried the baby might cry. What if they cry just by looking at my face?”
At that moment, the scene overlapped with me smiling.
“And, what if the baby is shy around strangers?”
A scene of me laughing appeared.
-The hyungs are so cute!
Wow.
“I look good on camera?”
Maybe it’s because I’m still a baby. My cheeks did look plump.
“Will the baby fat go away as I grow?”
Innate traits are important, but so is maintenance.
I need to think about this too.
Soon, the narration came out.
[Shall we go to Kongja’s house?]
The scene at HALO members’ office disappeared.
The scene then switched to me and my mom.
We were sleeping on a big bed.
Even in my sleep, I was moving around.
“Wow, look at me wriggling.”
I looked at my hand.
“I thought I wasn’t growing, but I am.”
I was definitely different from three months ago.
Auntie An, looking at her phone, said,
“The forum says Kongja is cute.”
Really?
“I want to see the replies too.”
But no matter what, mom wouldn’t buy me a phone.
“Oh, look at me! Kongja, I’ll be in the kitchen!”
“Okay!”
“Watch yourself!”
“Okay!”
Auntie An Auntie placed her phone on the sofa chair and ran off.
“This is my chance!”
I quickly swiped the phone screen down. There were quite a few posts on the broadcast station’s forum.
Title: The baby is cute!
└ Is this the famous Ma Kongja?
└ The one adopted by Ma Soo-jung.
└ I remember from the celebrity news show. Wow, so cute. Looks like a doll. How can someone look like that?
└ If they sold dolls like this, I’d buy one too.
└ Take my money! Group purchase 1
└ But can a doll capture Kongja’s cuteness? No way.
└ I want to say no, but it’s true?
└ Right…nothing can truly capture Kongja’s cuteness. I really want to see him in person.
└ I bet his cheeks are super soft.
└ There are many cute babies, but Kongja is uniquely cute.
Indeed, everyone was amazed.
“But these are real-time comments.”
Are they writing these while watching the live broadcast?
On TV, I was lying down again, trying not to wake mom. When I refreshed the forum, a bunch of new posts appeared suddenly.
Title: The baby cares for his mom
└ ㅎㅎ What did I just watch?
└ Ma Soo-jung said her baby is an angel, and it seems true.
└ An angel ㅇㅈㅇ.
└ Doing such sweet things with that face! Where are his wings?
└ He must be a really good kid. I ate his fallen wings out of boredom.
└ Why did you eat them!
└ Give them back!
An angel, huh.
“I intended it, but I didn’t expect it to come out like this.”
Unexpectedly, the results were good. I smiled and looked back at the TV screen.
Mom was holding me and coming out to the living room.
“They included a lot more daily life scenes than I thought.”
I looked back at the forum with the phone.
Title: Ma Soo-jung looks really pretty
└ Waking up looking like that, is it real?
└ My face, close your eyes..
└ The baby is pretty, and mom is pretty. It’s like a scene from a movie.
└ The baby must resemble the mom.
└ Nope, he’s adopted.
└ Wow, didn’t know that.
└ Maybe she adopted him because he’s cute.
└ No, look at this: https://enter.v.caun.net/v/DKFSDALSAJKAS.
└ Well, they probably chose him for his looks.
└ She said no.
└ Are you jealous of the baby? That’s petty.
A heated debate was unfolding. I nonchalantly hit the sofa.
-Whack
The sound of hitting the leather was quite satisfying.
“Why are they so behind?”
The topic of my adoption was already over, wasn’t it?
“Well, it’ll die down soon.”
I looked back at the TV. While I was distracted, the HALO member was in a different setting.
“Ah, is it the interview scene?”
It’s common in reality shows.
They always include interview scenes after showing certain situations.
The HALO member was sitting in a chair, talking.
“Did we misunderstand something?”
“Yeah. We went to take care of Kongja.”
“But, you know, Kongja wasn’t a baby that needed looking after!”
So they did know.
“When we got back to the dorm, it hit us even more!”
* * *
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